A fundraising campaign launched on the Crowdfunder platform has raised over 11,000 dollars to cover the surgery for Lester Domínguez, the young man from Holguín who was left in a wheelchair after being struck in the neck with a machete more than three years ago.
The campaign, organized from Las Vegas, Nevada, by an individual identified as "Sunrise H," has a goal of raising $50,000 and as of this Monday, it has 269 donors and 49 days remaining before its deadline, September 21, 2026.
The stated goal is a single one: to fund the operation that will allow Lester to walk again.
On Sunday, Lester posted a video on Facebook where he explained his situation and asked for support from his followers: "Hello everyone, I'm Lester Domínguez, the guy who was attacked with a machete three years ago for being robbed. I now need to raise 30 thousand dollars for my surgery in the United States. I have already obtained a humanitarian visa due to urgency; I need to go pick it up on September 11."
The young man clarified that the funds do not go through intermediaries: "No one touches it, it goes directly to the account," referring to the account of the American hospital where the procedure will take place.
To those who cannot donate, he asked that they at least spread his message: "If you can't, please share the video and tag people so we can reach more individuals. Thank you very much, and may God bless you."
His father, Dennis Domínguez, explained the medical severity of the case: Lester has an inverted vertebra that progressively compresses the spinal cord, with the risk of total paralysis if not treated in time.
"Every minute counts here, as the child has an inverted vertebra that is compressing his spinal cord, and he ends up becoming paralyzed," he wrote on Facebook.
The compression has progressed to the point that Lester can no longer open his hands or manage his wheelchair on his own.
The young man's ordeal began on March 21, 2023, when he was 16 years old and was attacked with a machete in San Germán, Holguín, in an attempt to steal his Huawei phone.
The incomplete C5 spinal cord injury left him in a wheelchair and subjected him to months of intensive therapy with mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, pressure sores, pneumonia, and bacterial infections.
The perpetrator, Adrián Grass Bermúdez, was arrested after Lester's phone was found buried in the yard of his home. The Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Holguín requested 20 years in prison for robbery with violence and intimidation, plus an additional four years for continued theft.
The oral hearing took place on May 15, 2024, and the trial was concluded for sentencing.
In August 2025, doctors confirmed that Lester could be operated on in Cuba, but the procedure never received a definite date due to the collapse of the Cuban healthcare system.
According to his father's complaint, the Cuban government has not provided him with any kind of assistance in over a year.
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